"Baptism is a precious
gift from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ
repentance, and baptism, we are cleansed of our sins, become members of the
Lord’s Church, and qualify to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We make
sacred promises to Heavenly Father, and He promises us blessings in return. As
you prayerfully read the scriptures on this poster, you will learn about these
promises, or covenants."
Last night Sister Crook and I got to witness a baptism of one of the people we have been teaching. It was a BEAUTIFUL event. It was so neat to see him progress and enter the "gate"of baptism because HE had PRAYED and found out for himself.
While Sister Crook and I
were teaching him, we would come home at night and just say this is too easy,
teaching people CAN NOT be
this easy... As
we continued to teach him, all we could think was when is something going to go
wrong. To our surprise, everything
went smooth. He was able to go
through the steps and learn what he needed to come closer to
Christ.
As Sister Crook and I got into the car, I said we just need to
say aprayer of gratitude. As we prayed and thanked Heavenly Father, I realized something
new I had learned. That missionary work is easy, because the message we are sharing is TRUE. Heavenly Father wants us to succeed; he has not set us up to fail!
"You who are members of
this Church must have a loyalty to it. This is your church. You have as great a
responsibility in your sphere of action as I have in my sphere of action. It
belongs to you just as it belongs to me. You have embraced its gospel. You have
taken upon yourselves a covenant in the waters of baptism."
-President Hinckley
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. I have learned the valuable lesson of being true to the church that I belong to. I remember one of my first weeks in High School, a boy had asked me about Mormon's. I decided to tell him all of the negative things that I thought about the people in it. Inside I could feel my heart drop, but was so angry at the people. Earlier that week, I had been greatly offended and as a 15 year old I took it pretty personal. So I decided to take it out on the church. I had easily forgotten that the people in the church are not perfect but the organization is and so was Heavenly Fathers love for me. I can tell you that to this day I regret not standing up for my beliefs. Now as I serve in the sacred sites of Palmyra New York, I get to bear testimony of the church and its organization. I get to stand in the top of the Peter Whitmer home where the first church meeting was held on April 6, 1830 and tell how I came to know that the church was true. At the end of every tour, I stop and say a prayer, thanking my Heavenly Father for letting me come here and testify of the truth, I know that I can not make up for the things of my past, but I can do my best now.
Through out my youth I found it very hard to get along with members of the church. It was stuck in my mind that Mormons, as a whole, were judgmentalpeople and that I did not fit into their category. As a teenager those are pretty common feelings. I decided to do whatever I wanted to do. This included not reading my scriptures. It was not until my second year at Utah State that I decided to read the scriptures. My best friend had started to meet with the missionaries and they asked her to read the Book of Mormon. So I decided to secretly accept that challenge, that I had never before conquered. I finished it for the first time on my 20th birthday. I knelt down and prayed, and received the perfect birthday present, an answer. It was true, and I was at peace. I had come to know for myself that the things in the Book of Mormon were for me. I could see within myself a change for the better. I realized it has nothing to do with people in the church but things I gain from the church. Now I get my second chance to be true. I get to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it changed my life and saved me. I can tell you what it is like to not have it in your life as the corner stone, and it is something you do not need to experience. Last week I got to go to the Hill Cumorah where the plates were found, and as I stood in the middle of the Forrest, I heard a whisper just as I did on my 20th birthday, Its all true...
"Be true to your own convictions. You know what is right, and you know what is wrong. You know when you are doing the proper thing. You know when you are giving strength to the right cause. Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true, my beloved associates in this great kingdom"
"Now, here you are on the threshold of your mature
lives. You too worry about school. You worry about
marriage. You worry about many things. I make you a
promise that God will not forsake you if you will walk
in His paths with the guidance of His commandments."
-President Hinckley
Joseph Smith Farm
President Hinckley was the prophet for the majority of my life. He was a very wise, intelligent, kind, and caring man. He was a prophet that LOVED the youth more than anything. He did many great things! I remember one of the very first lessons I had when I became a Beehive was about his B's. President Hinckley announced the B's to the world in a talk to the youth. For the next few posts I want to go through and talk about the B's. Recently, I realized that when it comes to decision making I am not very good.
I think about itfor days, weeks, even months...and then I come up with the answer! I will either do it or I won't. It is not a decision, but I feel like it narrows it down, especially for me a simple thinker...I know that President Hinckley came out with the B's so we could choose, he was merely giving us advice. I don't know about you but I think we should always listen to a prophets council.
"Of course you face challenges. Every generationthat has ever walked the earth has faced challenges. We could spend the entire evening talking about them. But of all the challenges that have been faced in the past, the ones we have today, I believe, are most easily handled. I say that because they are manageable. They largely involve individual behavioral decisions, but those decisions can be made and followed. And when that happens, the challenge is behind us"
-President Hinckley
I love what President Hinckley says, that EVERY generation has problems, but they are MANAGEABLE. YOUTH we can do this! We can learn the B's and we can manage them, we can rise above this generation and be what the Lord wants us to be. Nine B's to BEE!
